1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microscopic magneto-resistive effect element and a microscopic magneto-resistive effect memory cell, an MRAM including a plurality of such magneto-resistive effect elements or a plurality of magneto-resistive effect memory cells integrated at a high density, and a method for performing information write or read to or from the microscopic magneto-resistive effect memory cell.
2. Description of the Related Art
A magnetic random access memory (MRAM) using a magneto-resistive (MR) film was proposed by L. J. Schwee, Proc. INTERMAG Conf. IEEE Trans. on Magn. Kyoto (1972) pp. 405. Various types of MRAMs including word lines as current lines for generating a magnetic field and sense lines using MR films for reading data have been studied. One of such studies is described in A. V. Pohm et al., IEEE Trans. on Magn. 28 (1992) pp. 2356. Such memory devices generally use an NiFe film or the like exhibiting an anisotropic MR effect (AMR) having an MR change ratio of about 2%, and thus the level of an output signal needs to be improved.
M. N. Baibich et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 61 (1988) pp. 2472 describes that an artificial lattice film formed of magnetic films exchange-coupled through a nonmagnetic film to each other shows a giant MR effect (GMR). K. T. M. Ranmuthu et al., IEEE Trans. on Magn. 29 (1993) pp. 2593 proposes an MRAM using a GMR film formed of magnetic films antiferromagnetically exchanged-coupled to each other. The GMR film exhibits a relatively large MR change ratio, but disadvantageously requires a larger magnetic field to be applied and thus requires a larger current for writing and reading information than an AMR film.
One exemplary type of non-coupling GMR film is a spin valve film. B. Dieny et al., J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 93 (1991) pp. 101 describes a spin valve film using an antiferromagnetic film. H. Sakakima et al., Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 33 (1994) pp. L1668 describes a spin valve film using a semi-hard magnetic film. These spin valve films require a magnetic field as small as that required by the AMR films and still exhibit a larger MR change ratio than the AMR films. Y. Irie et al., Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 34 (1995) pp. L415 describes an MRAM, formed of a spin valve film using an antiferromagnetic film or a hard magnetic film, which performs a non-destructive read out (NDRO).
The nonmagnetic film used for the above-described GMR films is a conductive film formed of Cu or the like. Tunneling GMR films (TMR) using Al2O3, MgO or the like as the nonmagnetic film have actively been studied, and MRAMs using the TMR film have been proposed.
It is known that the MR effect provided when a current flows perpendicular to the surface of a GMR film (CPPMR) is larger than the MR effect provided when a current flows parallel to the surface of the GMR film (CIPMR). A TMR film, which has a relatively high impedance, is expected to provide a sufficiently large output.
However, reduction in the size of an MRAM generates the following problems. A magnetic film usually has a thickness of about 1 nm to about 10 nm. In an MRAM having a width of on the order of submicrometers, the strength of an anti-magnetic field component is not negligible, and thus a relatively large magnetic field is required to magnetize the magnetic film. A relatively large magnetic coercive force is also required to maintain the magnetized state of the magnetic film. Thus, it is difficult to invert the magnetization by a magnetic field which is generated by a current flowing in word lines.